Guys:
You are in an area that is very interesting to me. Where did you learn this? Are there book titles that teach the secrets of sound cabinet building? Just looking for a place to get more training and maybe some plans.

Phil

Some background on my DIY journey so far:
I mostly started out of need. I had just bought a house and had a kid so money was tight and I wanted new speakers. While researching speakers online I came across some forums that were talking about some of the brands I was interested in but they kept comparing them to DIY designs.

I was very skeptical to say the least but I kept reading and the more I read the interested I got. So I finally decided to go for it and built these:

I liked them well enough they did represent excellent value for the money invested but this design isn't the greatest, don't get me wrong its not bad.

As far as "cabinet building secrets" they're really aren't any. If your making a sealed speaker cabinet (like the sub I built) it needs to be sealed no air leaks. If you are making a ported cabinet like the towers I made or the horn bigjohn did the only air leak should be the port or throat of the horn.

You can check out the parts express website they have a forum called "tech talk" also there is the HTguide forum where some very accomplished individuals post they're designs for free not for profit use. I can provide links if you'd like.

Thanks for the compliment, that finish is a Vinyl faux cherry with PSA on the back it didn't turn out too bad but its crap compared to a properly veneered cabinet. That was my second DIY build and first big wood working project so there are definitely some screw ups and stuff. I really have no formal or even family based wood working training at all. It's all just what I've picked up online, reading and watching youtube vids etc.

I usually use gorilla glue poly or titebond II poly for glue as it expands and takes up the small gaps. I always put wax paper under it though.

I use a putty knife to scrape off the excess glue. Then go around the inside seams with some silicone caulk, the bathroom stuff let it air out a day or so before I painted it.

Now that I have EZ my glue ups are a lot less messy and the gaps are tighter. That's before the EZ-One so once I get that dialed in & I also just picked up a Hitachi C7BMR had a 50.00 amazon gift card so I got it for 69.00. Once I get the smart base mounted on that and the EZ-One all dialed in I should be ready to make kitchen cabinets..... maybe. That's my goal anyway.

Your project looks nice and even if you had errors, no apology needed, all of us have errors in projects. I have more respect for a man that tries than some scumbag that sits on his butt and never learns or tries at all -- expecting some government group to give him the toys that others have. I greatly admire men and women that do not sit back and whine. You have a new home and a new child, both of which are stresses all in themselves. So you picked up tools that you have and went for it. That is a real man, a real American to me so Bravo for you!

I get interested as I was a guitarist since I was 12. My uncle was the founder and bass player for The Ventures, and I could not help but be exposed to the music and and the gear. Actually for a while Uncle Bob owned Encore music instruments and everyone in the family that wanted to, had a job in the factory. So you might say the attraction was unavoidable. Though I never got the opportunity to learn any of that stuff. My dad is a wood worker of high degree and was in charge of the school district woodshops. I asked several times if he would teach me and he said NO -- I made him too nervous. When I wanted to take woodworking in school my dad would never sign for permission -- he wanted me to do other things. So some of us have to get the training on our own.

After the cancer radiation treatments I lost the majority use of my left arm, and much of my neck and shoulder is gimpy as well. I lost more than I care to list but one loss was much of my hearing. Especially the female voice range --so it wasn't all bad. Also that same loss is the mid range of voice -- or speech on the television. I do not even watch any more. I was thinking of buying a Bose system but there seems to be big variation even in the Bose line. I hear everything but I do not understand everything. Too hard to sort out the speech from the rest of sounds on the show. Hearing aids only amplify the sound you want to hear AND the ones you do not want to hear. Same muddy garbage sounds only louder.

So the goal is speakers on the home theater system and speakers through the house that let family ask me questions without screaming or shouting at me, and the ability to watch TV without an interpreter.

You guys have gotten me looking to replace the cheap speakers that came with my JVC home theater system with something better that I build. I'm a total novice when it comes to sound systems so I'll probably be years in researching and deciding what to build, but it gives me yet another hobby to fill what limited time I have because of all the other hobbies.

Phil,
Definitely not ashamed of it, it was almost 7 years ago I've learned a lot since then. One of these days I'm going to bite the bullet and try my hand at veneering.
There are many books on audio/video stuff some are extremely technical and others are high opinionated. With audio I've found over the years what's one man's bliss is another man's nails on a chalk board. I've been shooting for accuracy and low distortion in my system. I really value my hearing and get made fun of at work for putting in ear plugs when working on some equipment even if its only for 2-5 minutes.

Dik,
You & Phil can definitely build your own speakers and they'll probably look better than anything you could buy under 1,000.00.
One of the more budget oriented DIY designs that I've used is by a guy named Curt Campbell and for the money its pretty awesome.

I'm into Home Theater so much that everyone I know think I'm a little nuts. I have a 120" 2.35:1 screen in my living room so when I watch movies like Lord of the Rings it fills the entire screen, when watching TV or 1.78:1,1.85:1 material I get roughly a 97" screen the far right side and far left side are unused so I never have black bars.

What's nice about the TriTrix MTM( MidTwetterMid) design is that it's a 8 Ohm design so it works well with lower end HTiB Home theater in a box receivers. Lower end amplifiers/receivers usually can't handle low ohm loads they'll get really hot and end up failing or going into thermal protection if they have it.

This is where Curt's TriTrix came into play relatively cheap to build and easy to drive with just about any receiver. Plus it makes for a nice front stage in a HT since all three front channels will have the same sonic signature.

That is the one caveat that comes with the DIY speakers. The have to work with what drivers are readily available to the public. Whereas speaker manufacturers have driver custom built for their needs. A lot of the MTM designs you'll find will be 4-Ohm due to wiring two 8 Ohm drivers in parallel. Occasionally the MT will also be 4-Ohm designs due to using a single 4-Ohm woofer, this is usually done to increase sensitivity since most single woofer speakers are 84-87db in sensitivity.

Go to Bill Fitzmaurice's site that was posted earlier in this thread. There are home system plans and pro sound plans. Bill knows his stuff, you won't find better plans at any price. I have built eighteen speaker boxes of various flavors from Bill's plans. Every one has been exactly as advertised. There is a lot of valuable information beyond building the boxes themselves on his forum. It is very similar to this forum, lot's of helpful people and a DIY attitude. I have been steering people from Bill's site to EZ, so I gotta push people the other direction too.

I don't know a lot about his home stereo stuff cuz I haven't built any of it (yet). Every review I have read of the home stuff has been great though. I'm sure it lives up to the pro sound cabs.

I'm not an expert, but I have been hanging out at that forum for a long time. If anyone has any questions about Bill's plans, let me know.

Go to Bill Fitzmaurice's site that was posted earlier in this thread. There are home system plans and pro sound plans. Bill knows his stuff, you won't find better plans at any price. I have built eighteen speaker boxes of various flavors from Bill's plans. Every one has been exactly as advertised. There is a lot of valuable information beyond building the boxes themselves on his forum. It is very similar to this forum, lot's of helpful people and a DIY attitude. I have been steering people from Bill's site to EZ, so I gotta push people the other direction too.

I don't know a lot about his home stereo stuff cuz I haven't built any of it (yet). Every review I have read of the home stuff has been great though. I'm sure it lives up to the pro sound cabs.

I'm not an expert, but I have been hanging out at that forum for a long time. If anyone has any questions about Bill's plans, let me know.

Yes I have to agree with JS good forum like this one lots of info. I am new to the speaker building also but JS has made many. I also think if you ever build one you would be surprized like I was on the sound that comes out. I just built the tuba18 for home Theater use kinda but I made the double speaker and find it a little to strong for my home dang it's friggin loud even on low with a small amp lol so for pro use I can't wait to try it out.

Being these speakers are made out of wood and also cut with the EZ system can't see how it hursts to spam a little bit for other good forums and things to make and once the bevel cut becomes a no brainer to setup and make your cut I'm sure many more will come over from bill's forum to check it out and buy at least the track and saw. And again this is not about another tool anywhere close to EZ's make up only about a project that can be made well with the EZ system. Bill has a jig section that uses a circular saw jig that should say the EZ track down the road you never know.

There must be at least 5 or 10 BFM guys here now and many more checking to see whats going on here so this could be a good year.